I had to recover alone because Justin claimed he had to spend all day, every day at the hospital for treatment. It was horrible, but I told him I understood becausecancer treatment.
“Hmm.” He wraps his arm around my shoulders, holding me close, and kisses my forehead. My eyes are so heavy with fatigue.
“I can’t believe I’m so tired. I slept really late today.”
“You worked hard this afternoon,” he reminds me. “And I might have just worked you hard again.”
With a smile, I nuzzle my nose against his warm skin. “Not complaining.”
“I was rough with you.”
“You know I like it.”
My eyes are so heavy, and I can feel him relax beneath me. He has to be tired, too.
More than anything, I’m relieved.
Brooks isn’t mad at me anymore.
It’s been a whole week of living at Brooks’s house, sleeping in his bed, fucking like rabbits, and it feelsso goodI won’t want to leave when my place is fixed up.Now that the construction crew is doing their thing, Brooks has gone back to work at the garage, and I spend my days at the restaurant, mostly in the way.
I can’t help it. I’m a control freak when it comes to my place.
“Jules,” Anderson, the head of construction, says as he approaches me. I have no idea what the man’s first name is. He always just goes by Anderson.
“Yes?”
“I’m going to say this in the nicest way possible. You need to get the hell out of my way.”
My jaw drops. “This ismy place.”
“For right now, it’smyproject, and you’re in the way. We have a plan. I won’t deviate from it, and if I have questions, I’ll call you.”
“But aren’t you planning to start demoing the upstairs today?”
“I was, but that’s been pushed back to tomorrow. You should go, and I’ll let you know if I need anything.”
“Do you talk this way to Connor?” I lift my chin, and Anderson smirks.
“Of course I do. Not that he spends much time on-site with me.”
I sigh and look around. The walls had to be stripped down, and new drywall was hung, then painted. That’s what they’ve been working on. I don’t even have a new floor yet.
“Fine. I’ll go. I’ll be across the street at the bookstore if?—”
“Great. Go.” He flips his hand, as if shooing me away. “Have fun.”
“Hey. I’m starting to think you don’t want me around.”
Anderson rolls his eyes. “What gave you that idea?”
With a smirk, I walk out, check for traffic, and cross the street to Billie’s Books. I need to pick up the next book club read, and I can always curl up with my new paperback for a while.
It’s raining today, and that actually sounds nice.
So I push into the store and am happy to see that Dani and all of her sisters are here, too. Charlie is the youngest, and from what I hear, she’s a damn good, highly sought-after wedding planner. Alex is Dani’s twin, and a reporter for the newspaper. Darby, the oldest sister, is even here, and I haven’t seen her since high school.
We were friends back then, but lost track of each other.
